Renovations halted at Mory’s as fundraising lags

Renovations to Mory’s have been halted until the shuttered club can raise enough money to pay its contractors, the president of the Mory’s Board of Governors, Christopher Getman ’64, said this week.

In an interview, Getman said that the pause in renovations could push the club’s reopening to late fall or perhaps even the spring. While the club has raised close to $700,000 for the project, he said an additional six-figure sum is still needed to allow renovation work to continue.

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The architect planning the renovation of Mory’s had originally suggested that the club might be able to open its doors for the centennial of the Whiffenpoofs in October and be fully operational by the Harvard-Yale football game the next month. But fundraising has been particularly challenging this summer, Getman said, postponing construction and thus throwing a wrench into those plans.

“We’ll be lucky to be open by the Harvard game,” Getman said, adding: “We’re going to do it right, and if that means opening in the spring, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll open when we’re ready to open.”

In the interview, Getman said Mory’s has hired a general manager for its restaurant, Ben Bloom, and named its comptroller, Robin Soltesz, to serve as general manager of the club. With those officials in place, the club will be able to draw up menus and fashion a more thorough business plan that includes food costs — a step that Getman said he hopes will reassure potential donors.

“People have been holding off, not donating, because we don’t have a serious business plan,” he said.

Mory’s has also launched a new Web site and recently placed an advertisement in the Yale Alumni Magazine, Getman said.